Beverwyk, Reyes named Sentinel Bowlers of the Year

Monday

ZEELAND — Bowling a 300 game can be incredibly difficult. None of the Zeeland varsity bowlers did that this year.

Although when accomplished it’s quite the feat, a more consistent bowler tends to have more success.

Gabe Reyes, a senior at Zeeland West, was second in the OK Conference in average (204) while teammate and junior Skylar Beverwyk, led the conference in average (170).

That accomplishment comes with plenty of consistency and with their success this season, both were named the Holland Sentinel Bowlers of the Year.

Both were named all-conference this year.

“Gabe is a senior that always had a positive attitude and tried to pick teammates up when things were down,” Zeeland coach Jeremy Baum said. “Gabe always took practice seriously but made it fun as well.”

That was a goal for Reyes this year — have more fun and focus.

“Individually, I learned to actually focus more on getting my spares and actually trying more. With the team, we got closer and it made us better as a team. We cheered each other up when we were down,” Reyes said.

His high game this season was a 267.

Baum, who is a first-year coach, instituted a new rule this year — no cell phones while playing.

“It helped us in the long run and we were more focused on practicing rather than playing with our phones. It made us all as a team better,” Reyes said.

Beverwyk, who had a high game of 227, took her play much more seriously this season.

“We just all worked together and we knew when to do better and try harder to win,” Beverwyk said.

She also said that Baum helped them play on all types of oil patterns, which brought them success throughout the season.

“Skylar worked well with her teammates to teach them our traditions at Zeeland,” Baum said. “Skylar strives to get better as a bowler and a leader of the Zeeland girls bowling team.”

Neither made the state finals, but finished in the top of of the regional tournament. Reyes finished 27th out of 93 while Beverwyk was 31st out of 85.

Reyes will graduate while Beverwyk will return for her senior season.

She wants to have more communication with her teammates next season and continue to succeed.

Reyes meanwhile will look back on his time with a smile.

“I’ll probably remember most getting almost a 300. That’s pretty much it,” he said. “I’ll remember how everyone was hyping me up, even if I wasn’t doing my best, keep your head up and keep doing it.”